John 13:36-38
Simon Peter asked, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "You can't go with me now, but later on you will." Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I go with you now? I would die for you!" "Would you really die for me?" Jesus asked. "I tell you for certain that before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don't even know me."
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
If an emergency arises on an airplane, adult passengers traveling with a child are told to put on their oxygen masks first before they mask their children. This is to ensure that they have the capability to assist their little ones. In other words, they have to save themselves first in order to be able to save anyone else.
Sometimes there is a progression that must be followed in certain situations in order to obtain the desired outcome. Peter had to go through some things to strengthen his faith. Jesus knew this. He knew that Peter would ultimately be an amazing Apostle… and He referred to him as “the rock” in Matthew 16. That’s a pretty strong endorsement in my book! Yet Peter denied Jesus – three times!! - despite his insistence that this would never happen. And we often behave in much the same manner.
Who among us has not affirmed that we were faith-filled Christians who trust God to meet our every need… then whined, cried and wrung our hands over all sorts of issues both great and small? How many of us have claimed that God is our fortress… mighty and strong… then fallen apart and said, “I just can’t take this!”? Someone said to me recently, “I just want to be happy.” My response was that sometimes we have to be unhappy for a while in order to get to “happy!” And I think this is illustrated beautifully in this scripture passage. Jesus knew that Peter was going to have to suffer and go through some things in order to come out strong and truly dependent on Him for His strength and power.
None of us thinks we would blatantly deny Jesus Christ… yet we do this every day in many ways by wavering in our faith and wallowing in fear, self-pity, and impatience. We need to take a deep breath, say a heart-felt prayer, ask God to help us with whatever is challenging us in any way… then thank Him for answering according to His will. The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus is still with us when we emerge from our trials and tribulations… He never deserts us… and for this we should be incredibly grateful.
We may never be “rock star” Apostles for Jesus… but we can become the most humble, devoted servants possible and witness for Him in every circumstance. We may have to go through some things and be unhappy or uncomfortable in order to become the Disciple of Christ that God desires. Or, we can continue to deny Jesus… whether we realize we are doing so or not… and wallow in the misery of the pit that Satan has designed for us. The choice is ours… how will you decide?
©2011 Debbie Robus
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